MIT atop U.S. News undergraduate engineering list

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MIT's undergraduate engineering program remained the best in the nation this year, according to U.S. News & World Report's annual rankings guide released today.

MIT has held the top spot in the magazine's overall undergraduate engineering rankings for the last six years. Specialized disciplines within MIT engineering that U.S. News also ranked as the nation's best this year include the departments of aeronautics and astronautics; chemical engineering; electrical engineering and computer science; and mechanical engineering.

The MIT Sloan School of Management's undergraduate business program ranked overall as the nation's second best, according to the report. MIT's undergraduate business programs in production and operations management and in quantitative analysis also took top honors this year, and both programs have held the top places for at least six years.

MIT continued to rate as one of the best universities in the nation in the U.S. News survey. The magazine listed MIT as the seventh-best university in America. Last year, the Institute was tied for fourth with two other schools.

The U.S. News ranking formula gives greatest weight to the opinions of those in a position to judge a school's undergraduate academic excellence. The peer assessment survey allows presidents, provosts, and deans of admissions to account for intangibles such as faculty dedication to teaching.Ranked by its peer universities in this category, MIT shared top and equal standing with Princeton, Harvard and Stanford.

The Institute also remained one of the most selective in the country. Gauging by its low acceptance rate, MIT was tied with Princeton for third place, behind Harvard and Yale.

MIT ranked fifth among national universities in the "Best Value" category because two-thirds of its students received need-based financial aid in 2006. This ranking relates a school's academic quality to the net cost of attendance for a student who receives the average level of need-based financial aid.